The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1887-06-17
ST. ANTHONY's SHRINE.
The Annual Pilgrimage to - Famous
Pennsyiyania Chapel.
NJ

NhaPsis
New York World.
PITTsBURG. June l3.-For years the
Church of the Holy Name. on Troy Hill
Allegheny. of which the Rev. Mr.. Mol
linger has been pastor for more than
twenty years. has been place TO which
the afflicted of all denominations have
made pilgrimages. The numberless cures
which have been ascribed to the inter
cession of st. Anthony have caused the
fame of the church To spread 10 every
part of the country.
To-day is the feast day of the patron
saint. For several days hundreds of the
afflicted have been arriving on trains and
in other conveyances To take part in the
observance of the day and 10 appeal to
the saint for relief from their ills. From
daylight to-day the roads leading To Troy
Hill were thronged with people i'm car
riages and ON foot, hurrying to the
church as best they could. so as 10 get
within the auditorium. Ii was pathetic
sight. but there was not among them the
throng. who did not seem buoyed up by
the thought that relief from bodily ills
was at the summit of the hill overlook
ing the Allegheny River. IL is estimated
that between three and four thousand
persons were present for the high mass.
which was recited at 1890 O'Clock. The
church has a seating capacity of about
| 900. but by 10 o'clock fully 200 were
i'm the building. The members of the
congregation attended services earlier in
the morning, and dming the rest of the
day the church was given up TO the
strangers and the afflicted.
The services lasted three hours and two
sermons were preached, in addition
to which Father Mollinger made brief
of St. Anthony. A life size statue of the
saint occupied place in the sanctuary.
At 3 o'clock vespers and benediction
were held in the private chapel Of Father
Mollinger. which he built with his own
means at a cost of $50. 900. OF this chapel
a writer in the June number of one of
the church magazines says:
On one of the high hills of Western
Pennsylvania overlooking the All,ghany
River stands an exquisite little chapel,
unique, wonderful. costly, magnificent.
II was built by devoted priest out of
his own inherited wealth to do honor Ia
the relics of the saints. Ii would read
like an extract from the arabian
Nights" did We venture a full description
of this astonishing work of private de-
votion. We may safely say there is
nothing like it i'm America. Thousands
of precious relics cased in crystal, sill
yer and gold line the walls i'm incrusta-
tions of carving and gilt from the
floor to the dome. Light streams from
above, and the walls are hidden by ac-
tual mosaics of reliquaries in every
shape the imagination could picture.
Shrines are erected on every side and
life size figures of exquisite workman
ship of martyred saints lie beneath them,
displaying the wounds of their martyr
dom to the reverent wonder and devo-
ton of the spectator. Urns and vials
centuries old, some of them containing
sacred relics taken from the catacombs
or the crypts of ancient shrines in the
Old World, are here all covered with
costly plate glass. The precious au-
thentications of these relics, some
crumbling with age, are inclosed in the
fire-proof safes of this wonderful chapel.
How these relics were obtained and the
account of their accumulation would
form a history of itself.
Looking at the enthusiastic ecclesIas-
tic az he points out the beautiful statue
of st. Anthony, the good old man (he
Rev. Father, Mollinger), with his long
white beard, his black skull cap and
loose cossack, his whole face aglow with
fervor and animation, one cannot help
catching some of the enthusiasm and de-
votion as he kneels to kiss the relics of
Pittsburg cross the river to the twin
city and ask any one that you meet to
show you the way to Troy Hill. If it
happen to be on the 18th of June (the
birth of st. Anthony of Padua), the
throng of devout people ascending the
road to the Chapel Of Relics will point
out the way without further inquiry.
The chapel is said to contain more relics
than any other outside of Rome.
That wonderful cures have been made,
here there are many who will gladly
bear witness. Father Mollinger gener-
ally requires that Catholics shall pray to
the saint daily. while those who are not
members of the church are required to
abstain from meat on Friday and do
some other simple penance. Father Mol
I,naxar ,n.v.r t.L.1 faao